Charity of the Month: Jan 09

So, I don't know if I've discussed it on the blog before, but I created a budget when I got my job. I've been doing really well for the most part, but big things like my car pulling a few muscles have set back my emergency fund goals a bit. I automatically save for certain things and pay off certain things and I'm really liking my system, except that my tracking system is on my desktop computer so when I go away for a while I can't take it with me and I... lose track. And then I just have to hope I'm sticking to it.

Anyway, I created a mandatory monthly charity category. In all, several hundred dollars goes to charities every year from me now, and I've been really enjoying picking out my monthly charities.

One question I had was whether it's better to support one or two charities continuously or to donate to a different charity every month? I came to the conclusion that I care enough about many issues - as opposed to being totally passionate about just one or two. I haven't found my one, above-all-others cause yet. So, for now I'd like to float my money around to my different interests.

And now I'm going to start sharing my charities of choice! Some will be well-known, some won't be. I spent a lot of time thinking about this month, but what it finally came down to was an organization that I have volunteered time with in the past and who recently sent me a solicitation.*

This month's charity is: Habitat for Humanity. Habitat is a housing ministry that not only utilizes donations and volunteers to supply housing for low-income families, but also helps them help themselves. Families selected for Habitat homes have high need but also some ability to repay the no-interest no-fee mortgage Habitat supplies, as well as the willingness to donate their own time to helping the volunteers build their own home. I think it's a wonderful model, and it truly changes lives.

*One note on the solicitation bit. I get pretty annoyed when I get solicitations in the mail - these charities are wasting their money and our environment to ask me for money, without truly knowing that I care about their causes. I started getting a bunch in the mail after I happily donated to a friend's cause in October, and truthfully it bugs me a lot that my name was shared by that organization. But in this case, since I know the organization and because I think they can serve a valuable function in our country's current situation, I felt moved enough to do it. Although, for the record - I donated online instead of using the form they sent me (which included some pretty corny and not very fashionable "all-occasion greeting cards!") so that they don't get the idea that sending me mail worked. (Even though... I guess it did.)